GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Owner's pride: Ken Goldstein stands strong in his new kitchen, leaning on his pride and joy -- a six-burner gas range from the Thermador Professional Series line.
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Kitchen sync
A family that really cooks decides it can stand the heat of a makeover
STORY SUMMARY »
It was a temperamental drawer that finally broke the camel's back. After mulling over a kitchen renovation for nearly a decade, Ken and Linda Goldstein decided that their beloved house did indeed need a brand-new kitchen, based mostly on one stubborn drawer that refused to open on hot summer days.
To Our Readers
Do you know of someone who has designed a beautiful room but is too modest to brag about it? Or do you have a room that would be worthy of a feature spread? We want to hear about noteworthy home interior design projects on Oahu.
Projects aren't just limited to rooms: If you've completed a landscaping project or remodeled the family home and are particularly pleased with the results, let us know.
The catch is, all projects must by DIY: designed without the aid of professionals. Send suggestions to Jacquelyn Carberry, Honolulu Star-Bulletin Features section, 7 Waterfront Plaza Suite 210, Honolulu 96813; or e-mail jcarberry@starbulletin.com
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Other "original equipment" in the kitchen of their 42-year-old, two-level home -- sink, stove and more -- was also deteriorating quickly.
The family of six -- including a son, his spouse and their two children -- spend the majority of their free time in the kitchen that overlooks Kaneohe Bay. The elder Goldsteins alone spend an average of 15 hours a week apiece in the kitchen.
"Functionally we both wanted to be able to cook at the same time," Ken said of himself and his wife, "and we're frankly used to all of the small -- and not so small -- problems with the kitchen. But as both of us are engineers, we had actually begun thinking of how our dream kitchen should look and function about a decade ago."
Said Ken of the final results, "Even on a massive project like ours, if you can make accurate plans, have a reasonable budget and add in considerable amounts of your time and sweat equity, almost anyone can get similar great results."
COURTESY OF THE GOLDSTEINS
Goldstein helped out in the demolition of the cabinets, knocking down shelves to the bare brick walls.
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FULL STORY »
Ten years in the making, less than 120 days to complete. With prior knowledge of home renovations and a $50,000 budget, the Goldstein family decided to tackle their kitchen overhaul without involving a general contractor or designer.
Using AutoCAD software to design the kitchen of their dreams, the couple turned their formal plans over to individual contractors. Previous meetings with promising designers had left them discouraged. In fact, it was after meeting a fifth designer that the Goldsteins decided to go the DIY route.
"Linda and I were astonished, to say the least, when his estimate came in more than $20,000 higher than our budget, but that wasn't the worst part," said Ken. "The design firm's proposed contract mandated that absolutely no changes were to be allowed after signing! It was explained to me by the company's owner that 'we would never be satisfied if we were allowed to make any changes.'"
After they canceled the contract -- and were given a full refund by the designer -- they were "off and running, all on our own," said Ken.
Purchasing materials on their own was a large part of the appeal of a DIY project. "The hardest part was waiting for the orders," said Ken, adding that most of the materials came from local sources.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
One of the few original pieces that remains in the updated kitchen is a butcher's block that Ken Goldstein built himself more than a decade ago.
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Taking initial ideas from trade publications, Ken scoured cabinet stores, purchasing $9,000 worth of maple cabinets from Cabinets by Arthur Thomson, based on word of mouth from a mutual friend, and bamboo hardwood flooring from Home Depot. Help installing the flooring came from an unusual source: a fellow student in Ken's martial arts class, Randy Strivens, who happens to own Dream Touch Interior Consulting.
"Luck was on our side for once, and we found some gorgeous bamboo tongue-and-groove flooring on sale for an amazing $1.21 per square foot. That evening, I had the distinctly unpleasant surprise of finding that our old kitchen flooring was not one or two or even three layers thick, but five heavily tarred and glued layers over a concrete slab. After spending nearly an hour prying up just a couple of square feet, I knew we needed some professional help."
A freelance food writer, Ken had an idea of a dream kitchen that included two Sears Elite refrigerators, two large freezers, two side-by-side Bosch dishwashers, a gas range and an under-the-counter, refrigerated spice drawer for their collection of 100-plus spices.
The purchase of the 48-inch Thermador Professional Series six-burner gas stove was especially a delight for Ken, the son of former restaurant owners in Arizona. Along with it is a new, 60-inch ventilation system. "We shopped carefully, very carefully, for the new gas range, which was to be the crown jewel in our dream kitchen."
COURTESY OF THE GOLDSTEINS
The Goldsteins had outgrown their 42-year-old kitchen both in style and function. Both Linda and Ken Goldstein wanted to make optimum use of the space, as they like to entertain other family members and friends in the heart of the home.
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A PREVIOUS, successful upstairs renovation project nudged the Goldsteins toward their kitchen overhaul. Jobs as project managers for their respective companies also gave them confidence to consult directly with contractors. The Goldsteins also put in sweat equity, with Ken picking up a sledgehammer to help out in the demolition of the old cabinets.
The family set up a temporary kitchen in the living room during the four-month renovation. The Goldsteins documented the entire process with photos, and itemized activities down to the number of hours worked by contractors and the number of nails purchased.
"Costwise, I'm pleased to say that we are still $5,241 under our optimistic budget, and we have exactly what we want in our dream kitchen," said Ken. "We were able to purchase even more new appliances than we had originally planned, along with a new floor and higher-end countertops. Of course, if we factor in the cost of my time, we would be considerably over budget, but that's where the DIY concept comes in."
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
The four-month renovation project was completed the last week of August, 30 days beyond the Goldsteins' original projected timeline. The extra time was a result of waiting for out-of-town shipments to arrive.
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